COLUMBIA BAPTIST CHURCH PARTNERS WITH
CU FRESHMAN FOR ‘OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD'

By Adam Goodlett, student news writer

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. - Every year the Campbellsville University FIRST CLASS, freshmen and other first-year students, participates in Operation Christmas Child, a program designed to put together gift boxes to be sent to less fortunate children across the country and even across the globe. Each year the Columbia Baptist Church has done the same.
This year, a CU professor who is also pastor or the Columbia Baptist Church, Dr. Ted Taylor, challenged his congregation to partner with CU's freshmen to have what promises to be the most successful Operation Christmas Child that the university has ever had.

A record number of 375 boxes were produced to help needy children.

Columbia Baptist Church partnered with the Campbellsville University freshman class in Operation Christmas Child, under the leadership of Pastor Ted Taylor, Campbellsville University professor of Christian studies and director of the leadership/character development institute. From left in the front row are Jade and Chrimson Simpson standing next to their mom C.J. Simpson, Linda Harris, Emily Sergeant, Sara Coop, Jane Corbin and Mary Frances May. Row two, from left, are: Janice Gose, Marcia Nix, Pat Stotts, Barbara Broome, Shirley Harris, Alice and Phillip Hadley and Sue Stivers. Row three, from left, are CU President Michael V. Carter, Edwin Hagins, Mike Talley, Sheri and Dr. Ted Taylor, CBC pastor, Paulette Caywood, Jean McLean, Juanita and Ralph McQueary and John Chowning, CU vice president for church and external relations and executive assistant to President Carter; The three gentlemen on the very back are, from left, Daniel Marcum, CBC youth pastor, Wilbur Gose and David Lee, student intern who works with Dr. Taylor. (Campbellsville University photo by Linda Waggener).

Taylor, Campbellsville University professor of Christian studies and director of the leadership/character development institute and lead professor of the sports ministry program, said, “I challenged our church members to compete with the FIRST CLASS in Operation Christmas Child and never dreamed what they could do.”  The CBC also committed to underwrite the cost of mailing each gift box, $7 each.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Ted Taylor, pastor of Columbia Baptist Church, carries Operation Christmas Child boxes, into Ransdell Chapel. (Campbellsville University Photo by Munkh-Amgalan Galsanjamts)

 

John Chowning, CU vice president for church and external relations and executive assistant to the president, said at a luncheon honoring the CBC, “We are very thankful to the Columbia Baptist Church for this wonderful support of the freshmen endeavor and of Operation Christmas Child.”

Chowning mentioned the many positive connections between Columbia and Campbellsville at the luncheon, including the CBC's strong support of both of the Christian colleges in their midst, Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia and Campbellsville University.

According to Ed Pavy, director of campus ministries at CU, Operation Christmas Child has been a blessing. It has opened up many opportunities for the student mentors, he said. Every year a few select mentors travel to North Carolina to the Operation Christmas Child headquarters to see the boxes get packed into crates then shipped out all over the world.

“At times like this, Operation Christmas Child gives students an opportunity to look beyond themselves and outside themselves. Even in these hard economic times we live in a country where we still have everything we could ever need unlike those children who live in third world countries who don't have the basic necessities to have their needs met. It's a good thing for us to be doing what we can and ministering to them in this way,” Pavy said.

“I think this is a great organization that does a wonderful thing. I feel like everything helps and that we can really make an impact by doing this,” Maggie Cloyd, a Campbellsville University freshman from Harrodsburg and Operation Christmas Child participant, said.

   “Operation Christmas Child provides a unique opportunity for churches, individuals and communities to join together in service for the betterment of our world,” David Lee, a FIRST CLASS student mentor from Alabama, said.
Operation Christmas Child is a partner of Samaritan's Purse, a program that was founded and is run by Franklin Graham son of the famous TV Evangelist Billy Graham.

 Laura Clark, who was in charge of Operation Christmas Child, talks about the Operation Christmas Child at chapel. (Campbellsville University Photo by Munkh-Amgalan Galsanjamts)

Campbellsville University is a private, comprehensive institution located in South Central Kentucky. Founded in 1906, Campbellsville University is affiliated with the Kentucky Baptist Convention and has an enrollment of 3,006 students who represent 97 Kentucky counties, 30 states and 37 foreign nations. Listed in U.S.News & World Report's 2010 “America's Best Colleges,” CU is ranked 23rd in “Best Baccalaureate Colleges” in the South, tied for fifth in “most international students” and fourth in “up-and-coming” schools in baccalaureate colleges in the South. CU has been ranked 17 consecutive years with U.S.News & World Report. The university has also been named to America's Best Christian Colleges® and to G.I. Jobs magazine as a Military Friendly School. Campbellsville University is located 82 miles southwest of Lexington, Ky., and 80 miles southeast of Louisville, Ky. Dr. Michael V. Carter is in his 11th year as president.